-female, 26yo, 5'1, 112lbs.
-Bf: estimated around 24%
-very small frame, even 1 pound gain/loss shows quite a lot
-been lifting on and off for 5 years, got up to 120 pounds and 18% 2 years ago
-last 2 years had to deal with a lot of personal/family/financial sh!t, ended up clinically depressed and was hospitalized at 80lbs, lost all of my mediocre female gains
-got forced to hop on antidepressants, appetite skyrocketed and ended up gaining 40 pounds in a few months, all fat (no motivation to lift)
-slowly dropped 9lbs with flexible dieting and started lifting again. Took me 6 months to lose that with accurate calorie counting (counting Cals is second nature for many years) seroxat f me up real good

I hate dieting and I want to be back to lean bulking.
I looked my best around 120 pounds and below 18-20% bf, I'm not into fitness bb, but I want neither to be skinny fat as I'm now nor chubby (easy to get there with some sloppy lifestyle, darn petite genetics)

Hence I would love to try this extreme approach. I want to get lean enough as fast as possible and then be able to slowly bulk without letting my bf skyrocket.

I bought both the rfl and the erfl. I have tried rfl as a borderline cat 1 on occasion in the past with success. I don't find the diet part hard, and I'm no stranger to long walking distances.

No EC stack will be used (I get some nasty side effects)
But I switched my meds to bupropion for my depression. From what I read on this forum it could be of some help.

I did a couple of weeks at maintenance, followed by a week of dieting/depletion/tension workouts and then refeeded for 2 days (not ud2, just same basic principles) just to make sure my hormones are as close to optimal as they can be.

I plan on doing as much walking as possible, on the treadmill and walking my dog (he's in for a treat haha)

Is a high heart rate at very low intensities a problem in this? Cortisol wise? Muscle catabolism?

Used to have 50bpm rate but now even at very low intensities it seems to fluctuate between 110-140. Sometimes lower and much higher for a few minutes.
Can't seem to keep it steady even tho there is no change in speed (4mph)

__________________
"I know who I am. And after all these years, there's a victory in that"

Is a high heart rate at very low intensities a problem in this? Cortisol wise? Muscle catabolism?

It might be a panic attack, since anxiety is very common on caloric deficit, especially when doing such agressive diets. Keep intensity at check to avoid this.

My advice:

Doing RFL (which is hardly ever a good idea, screw that guy who wrote it), even worse doing ERFL (which is more brutal version of already brutal diet, needed only in SPECIFIC situations) while having depression and being on antidepressants (especially bupropion) is TERRIBLE idea IMO and IME. Problems for me usually started few weeks after the diet.

Doing RFL (which is hardly ever a good idea, screw that guy who wrote it), even worse doing ERFL (which is more brutal version of already brutal diet, needed only in SPECIFIC situations) while having depression and being on antidepressants (especially bupropion) is TERRIBLE idea IMO and IME. Problems for me usually started few weeks after the diet.

But since you already decided to do it and you're actually doing it, I wish you good luck.

hi there I actually had the same concerns when I first tried low carb/high protein diets with varying deficits.

regarding the article, personally I have found that I feel much better mentally and physically on low carb, even zero carb. I feel sharper, more energetic and more optimistic in general. I'm not saying I never eat carbs, actually the occasional carb day with anywhere between 200-500g carbs makes me feel even better but only physically.

I agree that rfl/erfl are too extreme, yet as I said I hate dieting and enjoy short stints more. unfortunately, as a woman, at least a small part of having good mood is related to how comfortable I am with my body. hence the "getting it over with" approach. It's very short-term yet effective.

on a final note, I find my endometriosis symptoms are much less severe when I'm dieting during my menstruation. doesnt make much sense but that's my observation.

so, overall, maybe it helps, maybe it's making things slightly worse. the way I see it, pros outweigh cons and the reasons for my depression are way more influential and currently being worked out

Thanks for the input if u don't mind me asking, what kind of effects did u have? Under what circumstances?

__________________
"I know who I am. And after all these years, there's a victory in that"

hi there I actually had the same concerns when I first tried low carb/high protein diets with varying deficits.

regarding the article, personally I have found that I feel much better mentally and physically on low carb, even zero carb. I feel sharper, more energetic and more optimistic in general. I'm not saying I never eat carbs, actually the occasional carb day with anywhere between 200-500g carbs makes me feel even better but only physically.

I agree that rfl/erfl are too extreme, yet as I said I hate dieting and enjoy short stints more. unfortunately, as a woman, at least a small part of having good mood is related to how comfortable I am with my body. hence the "getting it over with" approach. It's very short-term yet effective.

on a final note, I find my endometriosis symptoms are much less severe when I'm dieting during my menstruation. doesnt make much sense but that's my observation.

so, overall, maybe it helps, maybe it's making things slightly worse. the way I see it, pros outweigh cons and the reasons for my depression are way more influential and currently being worked out

Thanks for the input if u don't mind me asking, what kind of effects did u have? Under what circumstances?

Hmmm, interesting.

Believe it or not, I also feel euphoric on very low carbs, like I'm on EC stack 24/7. Serotonin is just that weird.

Well, after agressive diets, even tho I feel "ok" while running them, some things are coming up later, like anxiety attacks, depression, insomnia, etc.
I did it twice and same thing happened every time, there's no logical explanation, except that diet caused it. Purely anecdotal.

@zLeeko
Weird. No other lifestyle changes? The only thing that comes to mind is extremely low bodyfat

@holly
Yeah unfortunately it's a hit or miss with antidepressants. One that works wonders for A, fks up B and vice versa. What about MAOIs? Feel free to pm me about this topic if you want, hope u feel better soon!

__________________
"I know who I am. And after all these years, there's a victory in that"